While I Still Can
by hindsight404
Summary: How The Believer Series should have ended... A fluffy Trevelyan x Cassandra semi-canon ending to Inquisition. Spoilers.


By somewhat popular demand I re-wrote the ending from _The Believer Series_. It's a lit bit more canon, but some liberties were taken. Bioware owns the story and Cassandra's character and the Trevelyan concept; I am merely having fun playing around with their story. _Reviews are welcome._ **_SPOILERS for Inquisition._**

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**While I Still Can**

_My dearest Cassandra – my love, my lady, my believer,_

_You'll have to forgive me for the ridiculousness of these titles, but I'm writing this letter to you under sentimental circumstances. We just spent the whole night sitting up in bed talking and now it's morning. You are asleep, but as you know I can't because there's too much on my mind._

_If you're reading this it is because I am dead. I have asked Leliana to give this to you if anything happens to me. She knows what it is like to live in the shadow of lost love. I hope you remember that in the days that will come._

_I've asked a few people to watch out for you when I'm gone. Leliana and Cullen have promised to help in whatever way they can. Don't push them away, Cass. They are grieving too. You will all need each other._

_I love you, Cassandra Pentaghast. From the moment I laid my eyes on you I knew that I would be drawn to you. You are a woman of confidence and character. You are kind, genuine, and an absolute romantic sap (don't worry, your secret is safe with me). I always wondered why you made me the Inquisitor when it so clearly should have been you. You are meant to do great things in this lifetime, Cass, and it does not end when we close the Breach and save Thedas. It does not end when I die, it does not end when the Inquisition completes its task… Your greatness ends only when you cease to believe in yourself._

_I love you._

_Emrys_

…

Emrys crumpled the letter after reading it one last time and then tossed it into the fireplace. The flames caught the paper and turned the edges to dark crisps. He was glad that Leliana didn't have to give the letter to Cassandra. He was glad to be alive.

He hadn't expected to be – obviously, or he wouldn't have written the letter – but the joy he felt, knowing that he had destroyed Corypheus and lived, was indescribable. Almost as wondrous as the joy he felt when he heard Cassandra's voice calling to him, asking him if he was still alive.

When they saw each other, the dust settling and their companions and friends surrounding them, she ran to him and kissed him. Her kiss had been hard and desperate and joyful. It only lasted a few seconds, but it was long enough for their friends to comment.

"_This_, is going in my next book," Varric quipped, elbowing Dorian.

The mage laughed and added, "I'd be disappointed if it didn't."

"Ew, get a room, you two!" Sera pushed her tongue out at them and giggled.

Cassandra peeled away from Emrys to glare at everyone, but they could all see the happiness and excitement in her eyes. Emrys himself saw it; her perpetually grumpy expression was just as grumpy, but behind it laid a light, mirth, in the upturned curve of her lips. No one could deny that of the inner circle Cassandra was the happiest to see Emrys alive.

After returning to Skyhold, Leliana took Emrys aside. She gave him the letter, sighing and saying that she was glad she didn't have to hand it to Cassandra after all. And then she told him about Solas. Emrys wished that Solas had said where he was going, but he figured that the elf had his reasons for leaving so soon and without a proper goodbye.

The party raged on for several hours, its patrons getting drunker and wilder with each passing hour. Emrys slipped away towards the fireplace after speaking to each of his friends. There he stood, currently, musing, after having watched the letter he was glad he never had to give burn into ashes.

"So you're not going to join the party?" asked Varric, settling at Emrys's elbow. He held a tankard in one hand, half-empty and smelling of Seggrit's homemade honey mead. "Or are you thinking, 'oh shit, what now', like I am?"

Emrys chuckled and looked down at Varric. "The latter. I'm just glad that the Conclave decided not to make Cassandra the Divine."

"Can you imagine what it would be like if she was? How many people would have broken noses and how many libraries would be full of stabbed books? It's probably for the best that she's not."

"Selfishly, I'll agree to that."

"But really though, what happens now, Crazy? Any ideas?"

Emrys shrugged his shoulders. "We restore order. Get things back to a new kind of normal. Or try to. The Inquisition is a force to be reckoned with. It won't disband easily." Varric nodded to that. Emrys asked, "So, are you going back to Kirkwall?"

"Not yet. I don't know. We'll see."

Behind them, the drunken squabbling of some minor Orlesian lords progressed into a loud duel. Inquisition soldiers quickly intervened, and as the two men were dragged out of the hall Josephine followed, swearing at them in Antivan.

"Well, this party shouldn't last for too much longer."

"I sure hope not. Skyhold doesn't have the fortifications for it."

Varric laughed. He sipped from his tankard and then saluted Emrys. "You're right. I'll just go find the Kid, see what he's up to. Especially with Chuckles gone. Good night, Crazy."

"Good night, Varric. See you in the morning."

With that, Varric left the fireplace. Emrys watched the last few shreds of paper burn and was about to leave when Cassandra appeared at his side. She awkwardly knocked against the wooden fireplace mantle, a silly grin on her face.

"I was hoping to talk to you, before the night was over."

Emrys touched Cassandra's waist, his large hand settling in the curve between her ribs and her hips.

"The night will last a bit longer. And I wanted to talk to you too."

Cassandra relaxed, pressing her weight onto her left foot in order to move closer to Emrys. He pulled her closer, close enough that he could smell the subtle scent of the Nevarran cabernet she had been drinking. Close enough also to see the pastry crumbs on her chin. He brushed them away with his other hand while she made faces at him and growled.

"What are you doing?" she demanded

"You had crumbs on your face."

"Maker's mercy," she swore as she turned away and used her own hand to scrape the evidence from her face. Cassandra turned back to look at him. "Better?"

He leaned forward and kissed her, once, gently, and on the lips. As he pulled away, he said, "Now it is."

A blush crept up into her cheeks. "I uh… I wanted to talk to you privately."

"Oh? Well then, lead the way."

They wended through the throng of partiers, her leading him, him reaching with one hand towards the sash she wore around her waist but never touching it. Iron Bull and Cullen were locked in an arm-wrestling match while Dorian and Sera placed bets on the winner. Leliana smiled at Emrys and Cassandra as they passed. Her agents, who were all very eager to talk to her about her new role as Divine, surrounded her and kept most of her attention. Cole and Varric sat on one of the tables talking intensely. Vivienne chatted with a few of the nobles who had been invited to attend the Inquisition's victory celebration and Blackwall drank with two other Orlesian army officers in a corner.

It was a huge victory, a great party, and yet the question of what would happen next hung over the hall like a fog. It was thick and heavy and undeniable. Soon, the question would have to be addressed. But for now, everyone was content not to have that answer and to instead revel in the small amount of time they had before the Inquisition was swept up in a new calling.

Upon sight of Emrys, the guards standing at the door to his personal quarters parted and allowed the two of them to press through. Once Emrys closed the door behind them, Cassandra took his hand, and without a word, led him up the square staircase into his chamber.

"What did you want to talk about?" he asked.

Morning colors slipped subtly through the stained glass windows, fracturing the light into ethereal contrasts of purple and green and midnight. A haze of gold clung to the horizon, peeking over the Frostback Mountains. Dawn was coming.

"I simply wanted to steal a moment with you," Cassandra said, letting go of his hand to walk out onto the balcony. "While I still can."

From his angle she looked like a woman wreathed in holy flames, the sun that rose steadily over the mountains her halo. She could not have looked more perfect, more content, more divine, than she did now.

"Cassandra…" he started.

"It's fine. You don't have to say anything."

Emrys caught her hands in his and raised them to his lips. He kissed their backs and then let her hands fall to his chest.

"I want to say something. I wanted to tell you that… Simply, that I love you. I don't know what the future holds for us but whatever it is, we'll face it together."

Cassandra grinned at Emrys, and then her arms wrapped around his neck and she drew him towards her. His arms settled around her waist and he held her close. He never wanted to let go.

"Together," she whispered in his ear, and he thought about how he very much liked the sound of that word.

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Thanks for reading! Review as you feel led.


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